That was Different
by supernaturaldh
Summary: Sam and Dean investigate strange lights in Montana. A different twist on the same on hunt. RUNNER UP ROUND 9 SENSUE AWARDS.


That Was Different 

**By Supernaturaldh**

The drive back to the motel was silent. The wind whistling around the Impala as it hugged to the mountain road, winding its way up and down the sloping roadway. Sam was staring out the front window, his face in a slight frown, his right hand gripping the passenger door. Dean was driving with his face scrunched up in a shrug, eyes darting around to look at his brother.

"Well… that was different". Dean said as he glared over at Sam.

"What the hell was that?" Sammy said as his face stared blankly at his brother.

It all started about a week ago. Sam and Dean had just finished up the hunt of a wendigo in the Minnesota woods. The hunt had been long, the wendigo smart, and the boys were tired, the wendigo having taken more effort to kill than they originally thought. In the end they had prevailed, and killed the son of a bitch.

They had just stopped at a local diner somewhere in Podunk, as Dean called it, while driving to destination no where. No hunt in sight. Dean's cell phone rang interrupting his pleasant encounter with a juicy hamburger, grease dripping down his chin. Dropping his burger to his plate, he did not bother to wipe the grease trail from his face. He quickly grabbed his phone from his coat pocket and flipped it open.

Glancing down at the caller ID, he nodded to Sam and said, "It's Ellen".

"Hey Ellen"

"Hi you guys doing Dean, how's Sam?"

"We're fine Ellen, fine, what's goin on?"

"Well, if you two are free, I have a hunt for ya…interested?"

Dean wiped the grease dribbling down his chin with a napkin and glanced over at Sam. "Ellen has a hunt for us… you game?"

Sam smiled at his brother, "Sure, no rest for the weary."

Dean chuckled and responded back to Ellen, "We're game… give it to me."

After discussing the details with Ellen, Dean hung up the phone and once again dug into his very large and drippy hamburger.

"Well", Sam said as he continued to munch contentedly on his salad. Boy, he thought, how did his brother eat so much grease, just the thought of that kind of crap in his body made his stomach tie up in knots.

"Ellen says there is something weird going on just outside of Crystal Mountain, Montana. People are seeing lights in the woods. Two hikers have gone missing while walking one of the trails near the ski lodge there. Guess we need to head up that way".

"Lights, what kind of lights… think it is a poltergeist or what? Did Ellen have any ideas?" Sam said as he finished off the last of his salad and took a swig of his diet coke.

"Nope, not a lot of details this time guess we just gotta go check it out ourselves". Dean said as he pushed back the now clean plate where he had just devoured the burger and fries.

The black Impala moved quickly down U.S. 212 past Bear Tooth, heading straight into Crystal Mountain. The small, quaint buildings of the resort town looking like something straight out of the Swiss Alps. Sam laughed to himself; he expected to see Heidi come strolling out from one of the doors any minute.

"Boy Dean, I feel like I should start yodeling or something here".

Dean laughed and nodded in agreement with Sam. "It is kinda like something out of a storybook, isn't it".

Seeing the flashing vacancy sign on the side of the road, Dean swiftly pulled the car into the parking lot of the tiny motel, got out and went to check them into a room. Sam stayed in the car; staring out the window at all the small town had to offer. Off in the distance Sam could see the mountains rolling high in the sky. Glancing to the right, he thought he saw a light, high on the hills, it was kind of hazy, but seemed to be moving quickly across the skyline, dancing up and down. He was fixated on the light, as if be drawn to it, he felt an immediate pull, like someone was calling him.

The driver door squeaked open as Dean slid back into the car, motel key dangling from his right hand. "Look at this", Dean said, "It is a goat on the key ring… go figure." Dean glanced over toward Sam with a snarky grin on his face. "Hey Sam? You awake over there?"

Sam jumped to alert, his mind dulled as if he had been in some sleep induced trance. "What…yeah, huh yeah, I'm fine."

Dean shook his head and said, "Ok, space cadet, our room is on the far left…2A". He pulled the car out and slowly drove down the hill toward their room, parking the car; Dean went to the trunk to retrieve his duffle bag.

"Hey Sam, you coming or what?" Dean walked by the passenger side and flicked Sam in the cheek. "I ain't carrying your bags… Princess."

Sam shook his head trying to clear the haze that had over taken him. Sliding out of the passenger door, he went to the trunk, grabbed his duffle and followed Dean into the room.

Dean sat down on the first bed he came to, his usual position by the door, and grabbed the laptop. "Guess we need to do a little research, see if we can figure out what is going on here, and where."

Sam slung his duffle bag to the floor next to the farthest bed. He lay down across the bed, bent at the knees with his feet scuffing on the floor. "So, how did these hikers disappear again?" Sam asked slowly trying to remember what Dean had said earlier after talking to Ellen.

Dean grimaced, "I told you once Sammy, they were walking on the trail up on the mountain, several people saw them. Then they just never showed up again. Seems like they just walked off the face of the planet."

"Was anyone else hiking that day? Do we have any witnesses?" Sam said, closing his eyes in an attempt to stifle the headache that was simmering just behind his eyes.

"One girl was hiking with the group, but twisted her ankle and they left her at the bottom of the trail planning on coming back to get her after their hike", Dean said glancing over at Sammy. "You okay there …" Dean asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, just got a headache coming on. What is the girl's name, let's go talk to her".

Dean knew that Sam would push past the headache to investigate the hunt, the only thing he knew to do was act like he was not up to it today. He knew he would have to put it to Sam just that way too, pretending to not be up to the hunt; Sam would agree to it and rest. He laughed to himself; he was such a great big brother.

"We can, but let's wait till morning, I'm hungry and tired. Let's just grab a bite and call it a night".

Reluctantly, Sam agreed with his brother, the urge to investigate the hunt drowned out by the pounding in his head and his big brothers insistence that he was tired. Sam would be happy to wait until later to investigate.

"Come on little brother; let's find something to eat here". Dean closed the lap top and slapped Sam on the knee.

Sam laid his right arm over his eyes to cover the light that suddenly seemed way too bright in the room for his liking. He heard movement in the room, but was afraid to open his eyes for fear the light would assault his now aching head. The next thing he knew Dean was taking off his shoes and grabbing him under the arms, pulling him gently up to the pillow. He barely opened his eyes to slits and saw he was now lying completely on the bed. Momentarily, three pills were shoved in his face with a glass of water.

"Here Sam, take these and go to sleep, I will wake you when I get back with the food."

Sam gratefully accepted the pills, throwing them down his mouth and taking a sip of the water, letting his eyes close and his head fall heavily back to the bed. Behind his eyelids he continued to see the swirl of the green lights hovering over the trees and felt the pull to them seem closer. Slowly he felt a blanket being pulled up around his shoulders and then heard the door close quietly before falling into a fuzzy sleep far away from the throbbing of his head and the spinning of the green lights.

Sam awoke to the sound of the motel room door opening. He quickly recognized it was Dean and settled back down into the pillow.

"Hey sleeping beauty, have a good nights sleep?"

"Nights sleep, Dean, I just took a nap…"

"Well that was some nap there kiddo, you been asleep since 6:00 p.m. last night, it is now 9:30 am…. I think that qualifies for a whole nights sleep, not just a nap." Dean smiled and sat down on the bed next to Sam.

"Wha… are you kiddin me. I thought you were going to wake me when you came back with dinner".

"Well I tried Sammy boy, but you would not wake up. See your dinner is over there on the table, enough lettuce to feed a family of rabbits."

Sam pushed up on the headboard glancing at the table. "Boy, I didn't know I was so tired."

"Me either", it was like you just zoned out of here altogether. I tried to wake you, but you kept mumbling about green lights, you had to find the green lights?"

Dean laid the white paper bag in Sams lap. "Here, lets try for breakfast sleepy head".

Sam gingerly opened the bag to find two glazed donuts. Quickly grabbing one and stuffing it all into his mouth. "Anythingtodrink…." He said with his mouth full of donut.

"Gross Sam, here is your cup of coffee, please don't do that again". Dean stood up and strolled over to the empty chair in the room and plopped down. Sam laughed to himself, well that was just the kettle calling the pot black. Dean was the worst… one of his all time favorite hobbies was tormenting Sam by opening his mouth when it was full of food. Sam guessed he could dish it out, but he couldn't take it.

Dean looked over at his brother, "Okay Sam, get cleaned up and we will go see if we can find out what is goin on around here".

Sam stuffed the other donut into his mouth, standing, he took the styrofoam coffee cup and headed to the bathroom closing the door. Although he was wide awake, he was still confused. Why did he feel like he was not quite clear on what had happened here? He remembered looking at the lights up on the mountain, and the rest was just a blur. He did not want to tell his brother he saw the lights. It would just cause him to get all concerned and worried. As he stepped into the shower, he let the hot water flow down warming his skin. He thought about the lights …..green, dancing, spinning above the trees. He knew he had to figure out what they were.

Dean nodded at the young girl who was standing in front of him. The screen door between them was making it hard to see her face clearly. "Cathy, Cathy Brown …right? We are rangers with the ski lodge; we just want to talk to you about what happened up there". Sam smiled and shook his head in a small nod in agreement with Dean.

"I have already told the other rangers what happened", the young girl stated.

"Well, we came down from Duluth to help out, so if you don't mind please, we need to know exactly what happened up there". Dean grinned his best sweet smile, and blinked his hazel green eyes at the young girl, the screen door opened. Sam smiled to himself, geez; his brother could always get a woman to do what he wanted.

"Come on in", she said as she scooted out of the way of the rangers, smiling up to Dean as he scooted past. Sam and Dean entered the living room of the house and quickly glanced around the room. Nothing out of the ordinary they both thought. Grabbing a seat on the couch, they waited for the young girl to make it back into the room. They noticed that she was limping slowly but finally made it to the chair and took a seat.

"So tell us what happened", Sam stated softly, smiling at the young girl.

"We were all hiking on Crystal Mountain, we were at the bottom of the third trail, having made it up the first two, when I stepped in a hole and twisted my left ankle. My friends, Jimmie and Seth were with me. They said they would go back to the bottom of the trails with me and call it a day as it was already 2:00 in the afternoon. I told them no, to finish their hike and I would wait for them. At most the hike would have taken 2 more hours, I had my I-Pod and a book, and I knew I could wait for them without being too bored. The next thing I knew, it was dark, and they had never come back. I used my cell phone to call for help, and my brother contacted the ranger office. They came and got me just after midnight. I never saw Jimmie or Seth again after they left to finish out the last 2 trails."

Dean and Sam glanced at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking. Smiling back up at Cathy Dean shifted in his seat leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands laced together in a clasp, eyes twinkling at the young girl. "Did you hear or see anything strange after they left".

"Well….well, I thought I saw something, but I wasn't sure. It was strange. It was kind of a blur. I was sitting on the rock, just waiting on Jimmie and Seth to come back when I thought I saw a green light above the trees. It looked like it was dancing around. I rubbed my eyes, because I thought it was just the sun glimmering on the trees, but it did not go away. It just hovered above the trees up ahead of me about half way up the trail and then it disappeared. I kind of dozed off for a little while, I don't know how long it was, but when I woke up, I called the rangers and got help off the mountain."

Sam tensed up, a knot settling in his throat. Did she just say what he thought she said, did she just say she saw dancing lights? He took a deep breath to still the uneasiness he was feeling. Dean glanced at Sam noticing that he seemed to be a little pale. Dean turned to Cathy and said, "We appreciate your information, if you remember anything else, please let us know". Dean handed a card with his name and cell phone number on it to Cathy and gently grabbed Sam's arm. Standing slowly, Dean noticed Sam seemed a little shaky. He quickly led Sam to the front door.

"Sam, you okay", Dean asked as he walked next to Sam back to the Impala. Sam was zoning out on him, and he did not like it at all.

Sitting down on the passenger set Sam nodded yes to Dean's question but did not make an effort to elaborate. Dean closed the door and quickly went around to the driver's side and put the car in drive.

"Okay Sam, spill it". Dean said as he pulled out onto the street. "Something is goin on here with you, I can tell, I ain't known dumbass. What's up?"

"I…I kind… I kinda saw the light on the mountain yesterday… when you were checking us in the motel. It was just hanging above the mountains dancing around. I thought I imagined it".

"So maybe that explains why you seemed out of it yesterday and slept like there was no tomorrow". Dean said glancing at his brother as he drove toward their motel.

"It seemed to draw me in and then I was getting a headache. It was just strange. I really think we need to go up on the trails and check it out", Sam said looking over at Dean.

"I don't know Sam, it makes me nervous, you weren't even up on the trails and you had a reaction to these so called lights… what if you were up there with them. How do we know it is not going to hurt you?" Dean said as he pulled the car into the motel parking lot.

"Dean, I am fine, we can't just let this go, we have to go up there and see what happened to them". Sam looked at Dean with his puppy dog eyes knowing full well Dean would relent and give in to him. It had always worked, and today would be not different. Dean could not say no to Sam, not with that look.

"Alright, alright, but if we get up there and anything weird starts goin down, we are so outta there."

Dean put the car in reverse and pulled back out onto the road, the lump in his through constricting as he drove, his heart beating a little faster the closer they came to the ski lodge and the trails where the hikers disappeared.

The hike up the first trail was piece of cake Sam thought. It was a steady climb, but nothing to hard. Dean on the other hand, hated hiking and thought it was the stupidest thing anyone could ever do. Why on earth would someone waste their time walking up a hill, when they could just sit in a bar and have a beer? People were just stupid.

"Hey Sam, see any weird lights, feelin' any Haley Joel vibes here?" Dean said as he stepped off the first trail to the clearing. Glancing up at the sign pointing to trail number two he turned to look at his brother.

"Nope", Sam said glaring at his older brother. "What is it with you and the Haley Joel vibe thing… gives it a rest."

Dean grinned and nodded his head. Yep, that had worked just like he thought it would, pushing Sam's buttons… that was his hobby.

As they finished off the second trail, which had gotten steadily steeper as they went, Dean stopped and leaned against a tree. "Whoa… this is getting harder dude". Sam laughed and said, "Can't make it old man…need to take a break?"

"No Sam, I'm fine… just get a move on". Dean pulled away from the tree and began the assent up trail number three. "Keep your eyes open Sammy boy; this is where the other hikers disappeared".

They both walked in silence, glancing around the area hoping to see some sign of the missing hikers or something out of the ordinary.

As they neared the top of the trail Sam thought he felt something soar by him to his right.   
"Dean, did you see that?" Sam stopped and looked to his right giving the woods his full attention. Dean stepped up and in front of Sam as he glared around the forest for any sign of movement. Just when he thought Sam was seeing things, there they were, pretty green lights twirling and spinning in a large circle just above the trees.

"Look Sam, see it". Dean said as he raised his hand and pointed to the top of the trees. If Sam was listening, he did not acknowledge what Dean had said. "Sam", Dean turned just in time to see Sam teetering to his left and then falling to his knees. Dean grabbed Sam's shoulders and slowly led him to the ground.

"Sam…Sam… can you hear me, what's going on… are you okay?"

Sam's eyes were open, but he was looking right past Dean, staring at the lights hovering around the tree tops, feeling drawn to them, unable to speak or even think clearly.

Just then the lights seemed to be right on top of them. Dean put his hand up to his eyes to drown out the glare as he looked straight up to the circular green light that was shining down on both he and Sam. This could not be happening he thought, was that a space ship. No way….Dean thought, putting his arm protectively across Sam who was now lying on he ground looking straight up at the lights. As the green lights engulfed them Dean felt himself sliding to the side. He glanced up, and was amazed to see that Sam was up above him. How did he get up there? Dean thought.

"Sam", Dean said, "Sam, get back down here." Sam was way up in the trees going toward the lights. "What the fuc…." The last coherent thought going through Dean's mind as he slowly faded into the darkness that enveloped him.

Sam woke with a start. His head was pounding in his skull. He raised his had from the grass and lightly rubbed his forward between his eyes. Where was he, what was he doing lying on the ground. He looked up and the moon was glaring down through the tree tops. As he began to push himself to set up, it dawned on him, where was Dean. He quickly turned his head from side to side, looking for his brother. He saw Dean lying out on the ground about five feet from him. He looked peaceful, like he was sleeping.

"Dean… Dean", Sam said as he pulled himself on his shaky arms to his brother. Dean's head lulled to the side and then his eyes opened staring half glazed over at Sam.

"Sammy… is that you", Dean asked shakily.

"Yes, Dean… are you okay?" Sam looked down into Dean's face so that he had a clearer view of him.

"I'm okay… I think, where are we?"

Dean pushed himself up to a sitting position, swaying silently as he sat up.

"Last I remember, we were in the woods on the trail, the lights, the lights were so pretty just dancing over our heads. I felt like I was drawn to them. Then I remember someone was looking at me. They were …they were little, like midgets." Sammy said confused with a dazed look on his face. "Did you see them Dean… midgets?"

Dean grabbed Sam's arm, "Hey, look at me Sammy. Are you with me here?"

"Yeah…Yes, I 'm Okay."

Dean pulled Sam toward him attempting to stand up, Sam leaned heavily on Dean. Both standing on shaky legs, they glanced around the woods. It was quiet, the cool crisp night air around them. It was eerie Dean thought. The only sound was the wind rustling through the trees.

"Do you remember anything else?" Dean asked as he held tightly onto Sam's arm, quickly putting an arm around his waist to make sure he did not fall down.

"Nope, it's all hazy. I remember the green light, feeling like I was floating, midget people, and then, and then…. Nothing." Sam stated slowly as he swayed back in forth.

"Me either", Dean draped Sam's arm over his shoulder and began to pull Sam down the trail.

"Dean, we can't go, we haven't figured out what is going on here", Sam whispered looking at his brother.

"I don't know about you, but I am outta here. There is not a chance that I am going back up there and into the green light, or what ever the hell that was." Dean continued to drag Sam down the dirt trail and out of the forest, back to the ski lodge, the parking lot, and the Impala.

"Dean… wait, Dean… we have to…"

"No Sam, no we don't, this is just weird. We are so not doing this. I am not into little midget people, green lights, and not remembering what happened. I don't like it, don't understand it, and I don't want to."

When they finally got to the Impala the moon was high in the sky, they had been there all day and half the night. It scared Dean that they had been there so long and still neither of them remembered much. Dean opened the passenger door and slid Sam inside. He ran around to the driver's side and quickly started up the engine. The car skidded and fishtailed in the dirt before making it back to the highway.

The drive back to the motel was silent. The wind whistling around the Impala as it hugged to the mountain road, winding its way up and down the sloping roadway. Sam was staring out the front window, his face in a slight frown, his right hand gripping the passenger door. Dean was driving with his face scrunched up in a shrug, eyes darting around to look at his brother.

"Well… that was different". Dean said as he glared over at Sam.

"What the hell was that?" Sammy said as his face stared blankly at his brother.

END


End file.
